Subject: [History] The National Anthem

Article:

Opo kondreman oen opo! Sranan gron e kan oen Wans operata komopo Wi moe seti kondre boen. In 1893, the Lutheran Reverend C.A. Hoekstra wrote a text for a Suriname national anthem. He used for the melody a composition of the Dutch Frysian teacher J.C. de Puy (1835-1924). The composer had not intended that his music was going to be used as a national anthem. In 1959, the government of Suriname selected the melody from J.C. de Puy and the second stanza written by Reverend Hoekstra as the official anthem. The council of ministers considered it desirable to add a stanza in Sranan. Thus Minister Essed approached the poet Trefossa to write that stanza to include the theme of 'unity with country'. On Dec 7, 1959 the stanza was approved by the government. It was first played on 15 December 1959 and has remained the same after independence in 1975. ------


Met dank aan Albert Buys